A Thousand Yellow Daisies
by the hand behind this pen
Summary: SasuSaku  One-shot "Daisies! There should be a thousand yellow daisies! And a horse!"


**Here is another attempt at SasuSaku.**

**One-shot…total fluff piece! Forgive any out of character writing…Sasuke is one tough bastard to write.**

**A Thousand Yellow Daisies: Sasuke/Sakura One-Shot**

Sakura didn't know exactly how, but one Saturday morning she had awoken in Uchiha Sasuke's bed.

The sun from the open window had hit her eyelids painfully and the spring birds had chosen to perform their serenade directly outside. Her mind, still groggy from sleep, had not registered the fact that she was not in her bed until she drew a deep breath.

_Sasuke…_

It smelled like Sasuke-campfire smoke, sweet rain, slight cologne and the musky scent of man. She jolted upright and realized her naked body was not wrapped in her fluffy pink comforter, but in black satin sheets. Her head pounded.

She surveyed the room. She had never seen it from this angle. Sometimes she would stand impatiently in the doorway as Naruto bounced around the hall yelling for Sasuke to "hurry up or the ramen would be all gone." Sometimes she would sit on the ledge of the open window and watch Sasuke pack as they went over mission details.

But _never_, ever had she sat on the large four-poster bed looking around Sasuke's neat, sparse room as early morning sunlight flooded in.

The room was empty and, as far as she could tell, so was the house. She couldn't sense Sasuke's chakra anywhere nearby.

Carefully, she slipped out of bed and padded across the pine-board floors, mindful of the expensive furnishings. She found her clothing in a small pile on the dresser. She dressed, pulled at her hair in the mirror-decided there was no cure for sex hair-and went in search of her shoes.

She found them in the hall. She debated making Sasuke's bed, but found a little satisfaction in leaving the sheets twisted and messy-so unSasuke-like. His obsessively neat ways had always bothered her.

A note on the fridge caught her on the way out the door. In neat little scrawl, Sasuke apologized for leaving so early (he was called away on police business) and assured her she could stay as long as she wanted. He suggested she please make herself at home and also consider having dinner with him that night.

Sakura choked on her own breath.

….

They continued to see each other. Sakura refused to call it "dating."

She called it "seeing," simply because "sleeping together" seemed rather coarse. She was a young woman of integrity and principals-she had been the Fifth's apprentice for goodness sake! She wasn't going to let her sweet reputation be flushed by any one-be they Uchiha or not.

Sasuke seemed to agree in some aspect. At least, it seemed, he never told anyone about them.

Sakura's first conclusion was that he was ashamed of her-a devalued assessment from her younger, self-depreciating personality. However, on further inspection, she decided that Uchiha Sasuke was just an unabashedly private person. He felt that what he did with his personal life was, quite frankly, none of anyone's damn business. His duties as Chief of Police only extended so far into the public eye. When missions were complete and reports filed, he could very well do as he pleased and take it to his grave.

Sakura liked this quality in him. Her twelve year old self would have wanted to shout from the highest rooftops in the village that she was routinely sharing a bed with the infamous Uchiha Sasuke, but her twenty-one year old self knew better. This was not something to be shouted from rooftops. It was a private little secret to seal away in her heart and smile at every so often.

"What the hell are you smiling about?" Ino loudly interrupted her train of thought.

"What?" Sakura asked innocently, carefully sliding a blank expression onto her face.

"You've been walking around here, grinning like a Cheshire cat all summer. I want to know what's up!" the blonde sniffed and sipped her tea, pegging Sakura with an evil eye over the rim.

"It's nothing. I've just had a good couple of months is all. My medical research is really coming along, the hospital is running flawlessly and Hinata's free clinic is ready to expand-"

"Shut up. I know this is about a man. So cough it up…who's tootin' your horn?" Tenten could be rather foul-mouthed at times. Sakura thought it funny how such a straight-talking woman had endeared herself so quickly to her new husband's family. The Hyuga were known to be prudish, stuck-up wads.

"Do you talk like that to Hiashi-sama?" asked Sakura, hoping the light change in topic would go unnoticed.

"Of course! How the hell else am I going to talk? I only have this one voice!" Tenten seemed unaware of her sudden barking tone. "Don't try to change the subject, Sakura! Who is he?"

"No one…it's no one. Really, guys! I'm just enjoying my work lately…" Sakura smiled sweetly, trying to keep her face as neutral as possible.

"Bull shit!" Tenten cried, smacking the table with an open palm. Several ladies sitting a table over turned around to look.

Sakura laughed when Tenten flushed red and apologized politely. When their audience returned to their own affairs, Ino snorted into her cup.

"Neji must be embarrassed to show you off…"

A shuriken embedded itself in the table where Ino's hand had been a second before. The dull thud resounded through the restaurant and the ladies next to them once again craned their necks to stare.

…

Sakura did not mind keeping secrets. Especially when they made her feel this way. Whenever she thought of Sasuke a sweet warmth would pool in her stomach and spread through her body, to the tips of her finger and toes, until she tingled all over. She sang in the shower most mornings and she was never crossed with nurses, even when they were useless. She was happy.

She didn't care that there was nothing remotely close to her girl-hood fantasies about Sasuke. He never walked her around the village holding her hand, he never showed up with expensive presents for her in front of her friends and he never kissed her in public.

In fact, to the population of the Hidden Leaf, they seemed to continue the same platonic relationship as always.

Only she knew different.

Only she knew of the long, drawn-out hours of the night where he would touch her, kiss her, hold her and love her as only he knew how. Only she knew the feeling of waking up to the feather-light touch of his strong, calloused fingers tracing the curve of her back. Only she knew of his soft caress of her hair and his sweet good bye kisses as he left her before dawn for a mission. Only she knew the smell of his sheets and the ripple of his back muscles as he hovered over her, tracing the planes and curves of her body with his sharingan.

Sakura liked secrets. She liked routine. She liked familiarity. She did not like surprises.

…..

"Marry me."

It's not a question, it's not a suggestion and it sure as hell is not a proposal. It's an order. Uchiha Sasuke is ordering her to become Uchiha Sakura.

"Huh?"

Sakura's head spins. She's half-asleep anyway and she couldn't possibly process that statement, even wide-awake. Sasuke's dark eyes are boring into hers.

He had just arrived from a mission to find her curled in his bed, sound asleep. This wouldn't be the first time and normally he would simply shower and crawl into bed next to her with all the stealth of a high-ranking ninja as to not wake her.

But tonight he taps her lightly on her shoulder and practically _demands_ she marry him.

"Be my wife."

Sakura is used to his short sentences and mono-syllabic vocabulary, but it is late and she is tired and she doesn't understand what he's asking.

"Sasuke…" she breathes, turning to face him

He's still in his jounin vest, forehead protector and arm guards. The bottom of his dark pants are covered in mud and his eyes betray his exhaustion. Yet here he is, asking her to marry him.

_Wait...what?_

"Sasuke!" Sakura snaps up wide-eyed. Sasuke's excellent reflexes stop Sakura's forehead from colliding with his jaw, as he takes a quick step back.

"Hn…" He seems unfazed. He simply stands there, gazing intently at her face, patiently waiting for her to say something other than his name.

"You can't just ask that!" Sakura suddenly springs out of bed, facing him. She is panicking and it's written all over her face.

For a second she sees a flash of uncertainty in Sasuke's eyes. But he simply steps toward her.

"Why not? Marry me." Uchihas have infinite patience.

Sakura blinks at him as if he has grown an extra head while away.

"This-! You-!" she struggles to collect her thoughts. Sasuke is asking her to be his wife-something she should be squealing about-and all she can think is how wrong it all is.

"You haven't thought this through!" she manages. "You can't just do this, Sasuke! Marriage-! Marriage, it's…" she falters and stares at him.

Sakura desperately wishes he would say something. But Sasuke simply stands there, seemly at ease, waiting patiently for her to get her act together.

"Sasuke, this is not how you're supposed to ask someone to marry you!" she snaps, waving her hands around, as if to suggest his bedroom setting is the problem.

"Hn…" Sasuke's eyes roam their surroundings slowly. "Really?"

"Really, Sasuke! It's supposed to be romantic! There should be candles, a lot of candles! And a ring! Did you even buy a ring? And aren't you supposed to be on one knee? And I'm supposed to be wearing something cute! Not pajamas! And there should be flowers-a lot of flowers! Daisies! There should be a thousand yellow daisies! And a horse!"

Sasuke arches one perfect eyebrow at this, his only reaction to her tirade.

"I don't know what the horse is doing there, but it's there! And none of those things are here! Not even the horse, Sasuke! The horse!"

Sakura is breathless, less from her speech and more from the panic that is slowly encompassing her mind at the prospect of what Sasuke is truly asking her.

"You make things more complicated than they need to be, Sakura-" Sasuke's voice is soft and even compared to her panicked and breathless tone.

"No! They are complicated! Don't you see? We haven't discussed anything! Where will we live? What will we do? Am I going to stop working? Are we going to tell anyone about this? Are we going to have a joint checking account? Are we-"

"Sakura," Sasuke's face is blank but Sakura can recognize the slight quirk of his mouth and the amusement in his tone. He finds her panic funny.

"We can live here. Here, in the house I have rebuilt. We will do what we have always done-our duties. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. You can tell whomever you see fit. And we can apply for joint checking if that's what you want. We can do whatever you want, Sakura. I just want you to be my wife when we do it."

Sakura stares. It is probably the longest speech he has ever made. In his deep voice, with deeper eyes, standing in his room with mud on his pants and his hands in his pockets, looking straight at her.

"Sasuke…" her breath catches in her throat.

"Are you saying no?" he asks, so patiently she has the sudden urge to cause him bodily harm.

"Yes! No! I don't know…" Sakura stares at his impassive features and waits for something to happen.

Nothing does. He simply stares intensely back at her, waiting for her to make up her mind.

It would not occur to her until later how much Sasuke was probably panicking, in his own way, and how much it must have taken for him to remain calm as she babbled on about horses and joint checking accounts. In that moment, in the light of the moon, in his dark little bedroom, Sasuke had placed his heart on the line for someone-something he had not done in a long time. Sakura later realized how much it must have meant to him-how she should have been more careful.

"I'm saying I don't know," she responds, quietly. She looks away and begins to collect her things. "I have to go…" she whispers.

She dresses quickly, grabs her coat and heads for the door.

Sasuke does not move from his position next to the bed until he hears the door slam downstairs.

….

The next two days were the most miserable of Sakura's life. Even more miserable than when she was eight, got the chicken pox and was confined to bed with mittens strapped to her hands, dying of the urge to scratch.

Even more miserable than thinking Sasuke was dead after Haku stuck him full of needles.

Even more miserable than waiting for Naruto to bring Sasuke back.

Even more miserable than seeing him there, after all that time, in that snake-bastard's layer.

Even more miserable than watching Sasuke and Naruto nearly kill each other and then dragging them back to the village.

Even more miserable than praying for them both to wake up.

On the third morning she took a no-nonsense shower-no singing into her shampoo bottle-and by ten in the morning had sent four nurses home crying.

"What is with you?" Shizune asked her, looking her over. "Are you sick or something?'

"No," Sakura responded tersely.

"Haruno-sama?" asked a timid voice.

"What?" snapped Sakura, rounding on the owner.

"Th-there's a delivery for you, ma'am. I thought you should see it…it's kind of incredible…" the young nurse scurried off quickly.

"What?" Sakura moaned, rubbing her forehead.

She and Shizune walked toward the lobby.

"Oh my-!" Shizune's hand went to her mouth.

There they were, on every counter, table and surface available-bouquets of bright yellow daisies.

"My goodness!" Shizune exclaimed, when she seemed to regain herself. "There must be hundreds of them!"

Sakura was speechless. She watched in awe as two delivery boys bought in vase after vase of the bright flowers.

"Haruno-sama?" asked another boy, as he placed a vase on the nurses' counter. "I need you to sign for these."

He held out a clipboard and pen to Sakura. The pink-haired women just stared beyond him to the nurses and medic-nins struggling to crowd into the lobby full of flowers to see what was happening.

"Haruno-sama…?" the boy asked, timidly. Shizune plucked the pen from him and signed for her. "Thanks…" he mumbled, and walked away.

"My goodness, who could've sent these?" Shizune asked, taking a daisy from a vase on the nurses' counter and smelling it. "I wonder how many there are?"

"A thousand…" Sakura croaked.

Shizune turned to look at her strangely.

Sakura walked slowly toward the sea of daisies. She walked carefully around them and sat on the floor in the middle. She sat in awe, surrounded by a thousand yellow daisies, and began to cry.

The delivery boys looked startled. One put down the last vase in front of her and cleared his throat awkwardly.

Sakura looked up at him through watery eyes.

"Um…there are a thousand yellow daisies. We were supposed to tell you that. Not 999, not 1,001. There are exactly 1,000 daisies, ma'am…"'

With that, the boys departed.

"Well, now what?" asked Shizune, picking her way through the flowers to stand in front of Sakura, one hand on her hip.

"Can you cover for me?" Sakura asked, getting up slowly and smoothing out her skirt.

"Sure…where are you going…?" Shizune asked, cocking her head to the side.

"There's just something I have to do," answered Sakura, absentmindedly wiping the tears from her eyes.

She picked her way through the flowers and turned to the staff gathered in the lobby, watching her.

"You can each take one home! Everyone gets a daisy today!" she said, happily. She stepped carefully over the vases in front of the door and rushed through it.

"Well, isn't this just strange?" Shizune said softly. Picking up a daisy, she smiled to herself.

…

Sakura had never thought the walk from the hospital to the Police Station was that long. But today her legs could not carry her fast enough. She was sprinting through the streets, nearly running villagers over and hardly stopping to apologize.

She ran all the way up the steps of the station before stopping to catch her breath. The large double-door entrance looked tall and imposing. She had always gotten a slight chill from the large crest above it, the Uchiha fan resting on top of it. She took a deep breath and walked in quickly.

She walked hurriedly past rows of desks and offices without acknowledging any greetings of "Haruno-sama" and "Sakura-sama."

She walked hurriedly to the last desk, where a young girl sat…

"Is Sasuke in?" Sakura practically yelled, leaning in on her elbows.

"Um…" Sasuke's secretary seemed caught off-guard for a moment. She was staring frightfully at Sakura, her hands had stopped typing in mid-sentence. "He's in a meeting-"

Before she could finish Sakura walked past her toward the door behind her desk.

"Sakura-sama, I have to announce you!" the girl called feebly after her.

Sakura pushed the door open and stumbled in with a burst of energy.

Twelve pairs of eyes, including one very dark and intensely familiar pair, looked up at her.

"Hi…" she said, softly to the ninja assembled in the room. They seemed to have been pouring over several maps Sasuke had unrolled on his desk before Sakura walked in.

They stared at her curiously, waiting. Sakura could feel her face heating up. Only Sasuke moved, straitening up and meeting her gaze with his intense one. He stood patiently, like the others, waiting for her to speak.

"I…um…got your…delivery…" Sakura stuttered, knowing her face was as pink as her hair.

"Sasuke-sama, I'm so sorry! She ran passed me! She didn't even give me a chance to announce her!" Sasuke's secretary appeared next to Sakura in the doorway, her face pale.

"It's alright, Yumi. Gentlemen, do you mind giving us a moment?" Sasuke's eyes never left Sakura's.

Yumi and the men exited with soft acknowledgments of "Sakura-sama." The last to leave shut the door behind him. Sakura felt the rush of air as the door swung shut. She felt trapped.

Sasuke slowly and patiently rolled up the large maps, moving them aside. He made his way around the desk, crossed his arms and leaned against it. His eyes met her's once more. He waited.

"I got the flowers…daisies…they were beautiful…" Sakura wrung her wrists and looked around, unable to meet his eyes.

"Were there a thousand?" he asked, quietly.

Sakura's eyes snapped onto his face. "Yes…one thousand exactly…" she whispered.

Sasuke's eyes seemed to be drilling into her soul, searching for some unknown, rich resource.

"You wouldn't happen to have a horse around, would you?" Sakura laughed nervously, and shifted her feet.

"No," Sasuke said quietly. "But I do have this."

He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a small black box. He opened it and showed her its contents.

Nestled inside black velvet was a large, princess cut diamond, surrounded by an alternating ring of rubies and sapphires. Sakura let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"We can get a joint checking account, if you want," Sasuke added, holding the box out to her. She looked up to see a cocky little smirk spreading on his face.

"Well, then…" Sakura smiled. She walked quickly toward him and felt herself get swept up in strong arms.

He kissed her softly on the lips and she felt a small cold encompass her ring finger.

"I'm going to assume this is a yes," said Sasuke, his smirk appearing once more.

"I'm going to assume that I can tell everyone now," said Sakura, matching it.

"Hn…" Sasuke scowled but seemed to think it best not to argue.

…..

As Sakura exited the Police Station with a smile on her face, she could feel the curious looks and the glare from Sasuke's secretary. She wiggled her finger experimentally and watched the sunlight glimmer of the surface of the diamond on her hand. She took her time walking back to hospital, strolling leisurely through the streets and responding joyfully to greetings from villagers.

That afternoon she walked around giving away daisies.

When she walked into the flower shop, Ino was bursting. The order had been placed that morning and she was dying to know the exact details of why Uchiha Sasuke was sending her, Sakura, _exactly_ one thousand yellow daisies.

Sakura smiled brightly and handed her a flower.

"Consider it a wedding invitation."

**A/N: All the wonderful reviews (thanks guys, really!) have made me realize where the idea from this fic came from. It is from Gilmore Girls! The lines and the scene was stuck in my head, but I couldn't for the life of me remember where it was from. I was convinced it was from a book or something. Yes, the beautiful "thousand daisies and a horse" thing comes from Max proposing to Lorelei…in some season. I don't remember now…**

**:)**


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